My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 304 Cruel Gains and Losses

Clearly, the Great Sage's lateness was not due to having something to deal with at the Academy.

Instead, it seems they learned to have reached some cooperation agreements with the princess in advance.

It wasn't even a recent collaboration.

Roland stroked his chin, calculating the travel time and taking into account the fact that he had to avoid the several royal rulers who were currently very active in the Kingdom of Platia, he estimated that Roland would contact the princess as soon as he received the information from the Blood Demon Lord.

With Götze present, Roland recalled the knowledge he had been cramming on over the past two days regarding the so-called Council of Kings system within the Federation of Nations.

Given that the Federation of Nations originated from the split of the Holy Lagnacia Empire.

The system of the Council of Kings was inherited from the Holy Empire.

Originally, the Holy Empire was divided into seven territories.

The great nobles who ruled over these territories were called electors.

In theory, the emperor of the Holy Empire can only be chosen from these seven, or a puppet chosen by the seven electors.

Of course, the throne of the Holy Empire, which had never been severely weakened by the demon army and thus collapsed, was firmly held by an electoral family.

That elector was no stranger; he was the "Invincible War God" who was personally ganged up on and killed by the Demon King.

In fact, the fact that the Demon King personally took action, and even brought along several royal court lords to gang up on this person, shows the Demon King's respect for this person's strength.

After all, this was the same team she used when fighting the evil god.

Even after the Demon King War ended and the movement to reclaim lost territory succeeded, it failed to recover all of the Holy Empire's territory.

The territory once belonging to that invincible war god is still firmly controlled by the demon race.

The family to which that invincible war god belonged also upheld the true spirit of nobility, with each member leading from the front and dying one after another on the battlefield to cover the evacuation of civilians and the army, until the empire completely disintegrated.

The remaining members of the clan were subsequently killed by the conspiracy and treachery of the other six electors. A thousand years have passed, and the once glorious family has long since vanished without a trace.

The once glorious empire is now nothing more than a federation of nations, a mere shell of a unified entity in name only.

The Council of Kings was the only institution that did not undergo major changes.

Although the empire has only seven electors, there are more than seven votes.

Moreover, the position of Elector Marquis is not necessarily held by one family for a long period of time.

The outcome of the Council of Kings' votes is the key.

The one who can win, or rather, use every means to secure the majority of votes for himself, is the true elector.

Even though there are no longer electors, and they are now replaced by the kings of the various constituent states, this ancestral system still holds legal force.

However, times have changed, and now only three families listed in the Council of Kings remain within the Kingdom of Platia.

One is the current royal family—the Lancelot family.

One is the Wisław family, to which Götze belongs, and Götze himself is currently the family's only legitimate heir.

Yes, that's just how wild Götze's background is.

Perhaps like Salah III and Kefas, every noble scion with dreams yearns for a grand adventure.

As for the last one, it was this unfamiliar lady who came in with Erebus.

The other person was a stunningly beautiful woman, clearly defined at first glance, both in terms of figure and appearance.

But the other person was wearing a men's suit, a white shirt, a black suit, and a thin blue tie.

The other party identified himself as Machima, Machima Lancashire.

She was the last member of the Lancashire family in the Kingdom of Plataea, and was saved from death in a political conspiracy thanks to the help of Princess Andreup.

She is now the princess's personal bodyguard and advisor.

Even if there is only one person, the family still exists, and the family's voting rights in the Council of Kings have not expired.

At this point, everyone else in the conference room understood what Erebus was planning.

Götze, who already knew about the plan, sighed.

I haven't been home for many years and I don't know how my parents are doing now.

However, I heard that because his family's territory is close to the empire, it seems that they have not been affected and are currently maintaining the safety of their territory with the help of their army.

They are neutral on the surface, but because their territory is located within the territory of the Princess's power, they are only neutral on the surface.

At the very least, one must remain neutral in attitude.

The Council of Kings is a very sensitive place.

You can tell from its name.

In theory, any powerful family with a seat in parliament could potentially become an elector, or even the nominal emperor.

Although both the Holy Empire of the past and the Federation of Nations of today are essentially just a loose political alliance.

However, the family of that once invincible military genius proved one thing: if you're not good at it, don't blame the road for being uneven.

In the distant past, the Holy Lagnathian Empire was indeed a loose empire with powerful nobles vying for power. But in reality, whenever the invincible war god spoke, the entire empire would be reduced to a single voice.

Of course, that was in the past.

The Council of Kings once comprised seventy-two noble families.

But today, only twelve remain.

Erebus could think of using the Council of Kings as a pretext for attack, and the Demon King's Court, which now controls almost 90% of the Federation's territory, would naturally think of the same thing.

After the woman who called herself Machima and Erebus were seated, the meeting proceeded quickly.

Actually, after the two of them came in, they already knew a lot about many things.

The remaining issues are simply how to cooperate and how to divide the profits. Whether it's the Society or the Vatican, those organizations that have grown to such a large size cannot rely solely on ideals and beliefs.

The empire, needless to say, needs no further explanation.

Plataea has always been a troublesome, albeit not insignificant, problem for the empire on its borders.

The improved attitudes and changes within the Kingdom of Pratia in recent months do not tell us much.

Even the princess's stance and abilities are questionable.

After all, Roland and Kalia's trip to retrieve the forged identity documents was due to the Princess's stance, so the entire collaboration needs to be carefully considered.

If it's due to a lack of ability... then we need to think about it even more carefully.

But just as the meeting was progressing and the three parties were discussing the specific implementation steps and personnel arrangements, Amy walked in with a toothpick in her mouth, looking rather unhappy.

She first knocked on the door that she had already pushed open, then leaned against the door and said with a grim expression, "Reliable information."

"In the city of Sita on the border of Pratia, all the residents and the garrison were killed."

"According to the brief investigation by the scouts sent out, the residents had no external injuries, but their souls had been turned into a complete mess."

"Moreover, judging from the condition of the body, the incident must have happened several days ago."

"That's all for now. If I gather any other relevant intelligence during the meeting, I'll send it over."

After saying that, Ms. Amya, a half-demon with a rather casual style, waved her hand and left.

At this moment, Flam woke up, yawned, and after listening to Amya's account, she said, "We can rule out the Blood Demon Lord's methods."

"If he wanted to kill someone... you wouldn't even be able to find the body."

"Whether it's flesh and blood or bones, they will all be completely digested."

"Didn't this guy stay in Xita City for a while? I guess the royal court discovered that he was communicating with humans, so they played the role of making an example of him."

"Moreover, this method... is somewhat similar to the work of the Heart Demon. Even a lich who is proficient in curses could do it."

At this moment, Miss Machima, who had been nodding in agreement since the beginning of the meeting, spoke up: "It's the lashing of the inner demon."

"That's their method."

“Similar things have happened within the kingdom, in a small town or village, where everyone died in an instant.”

"Only a few mages survived because they had magical artifacts or defensive spells that protected their souls."

"After investigation, it was found that the Demon King's Court of Heart-Beating used a unique altar spell of the demon race to amplify the power of a certain spell, enabling it to kill unprotected civilians, or low-ranking warriors and mages on a large scale."

"However, the conditions for performing this are also very complicated, requiring a special altar setup."

Kefas, who was presiding over the meeting, glanced down at the intelligence and photos sent by Amya, and pulled one out: "Is this the type of altar?"

Machima looked at it, then nodded: "That's right, it's this kind of altar."

“Strange.” Kefas frowned. “This kind of altar should be the most commonly used and most basic amplification altar among the demons.”

Erebus sighed; "Perhaps what we'll need is the Amplification Altar."

"Alright, let's leave this topic aside for now. It's no secret that the Princess has insufficient control over her territory."

“Besides her main base, Heria City, and the thirteen surrounding central cities, her forces and elite warriors are insufficient to cover the southern border of the Kingdom of Platia.”

"Otherwise, those kings wouldn't be able to come and go freely on the border."

"After she realized something was wrong, she had already recalled all the strong and elite troops on the border."

"It can be considered a way of indirectly expressing our sincerity."

Everyone present agreed with the great sage's words.

The news that all the soldiers and civilians of Xita City had died was a terrible tragedy, but it did not do much good for the meeting at this time.

At most, it only helped them analyze clearly that the divisions and estrangements within the Demon King's Court were indeed real.

While the possibility of acting cannot be ruled out, after all, those who died were all humans, not demons.

In conclusion, the meeting lasted for four hours and finally reached a preliminary agreement.

Each of the three parties sent some people to remain inactive for the time being, and dispatched a small team to escort Götze back to the Wisław family.

Then, Princess Andreep initiated impeachment proceedings, going through the procedures of the Council of Kings to remove the current king. After that, formal procedures were followed to send official forces into the Kingdom of Plataea.

Of course, on Miss Machima's advice, if the situation gets out of control, the three parties can skip the formalities and enter the Kingdom of Platia.

The idea of ​​impeachment would definitely not have worked a hundred years ago.

At that time, there were five major families with voting rights in the Kingdom of Plataea, and the royal family won by winning two of them, narrowly winning three to two.

Unfortunately, the old kings eventually chose to purge the disobedient families, leaving only three families.

Unfortunately, the score has now become two to one, or even three to zero.

Roland didn't know if the Queen had considered the consequences of doing so.

But in short, this plan is just going through a legalization process.

After all, the Council of Kings is now basically just a formality.

Over three hundred years of development, the federation of nations has streamlined almost all the powers of this extremely risky institution, leaving only nominal legitimacy—the so-called orthodoxy.

However, now that the Empire, the Papacy, and the Society have joined forces, they intend to interfere in the affairs of the Federation of Nations. Not to mention the five countries that are already under the control of the demons, the Kingdom of Platia, which is already in a state of division, certainly does not have much of a choice.

Erebus brought Miss Machima to the meeting, largely due to the great sage's own considerations.

Scholars understand the principle of leaving room for maneuver in life, and the princess herself was also sensible. Perhaps the recent siege of Heria made her realize that she didn't have much time left, which is why she made such a compromise.

(End of this chapter)